A firmware update for the LX3 has been pubished and can be downloaded on the Japanese Panasonic page at panasonic.jp
This update includes tones of small improvements such as an improved auto white balance, a faster autofocus, a 1:1 aspect ratio mode, a new white balance bracket, a highlights display in playback mode, and much more.
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And the best feature of all? It can now store manual focus and focal length settings when switching the camera off. Finally the cam can be used for street photography with the camera set to hyperfocal distance. Great!
Hi,
anyone knows is there is a way to upgrade the LX3 if I don't have a SD card slot on my computer ? Any other way to proceed ?
Thanks in advance
Richard, what do you mean by Hyperfocal Distance for street photography????
One feature I would love is the ability to take pictures evry 30 or 60 seconds.. That would be amazing.
Have you seen the new toy from son? It's called party shot. Great for pictures of the familly.
Zorza
Best feature of all ?
Exposure / Auto bracket compensation can be set to +-3EV
HDR made easy ! I was having some fun with HDR recently and the +-1EV compensation limit was a serious problem for that.
antoine: you can use a USB card reader: they're quite cheap (even available with some cards as a package)
Update to LX3 Firmware 2.0 went just fine here. It even likes my third-party battery. (Could not tell you who made the battery. Got it from Amazon. Model No. BTR-CGAS005-J with "Premium Cells from Japan.")
antoine, i did it by just connecting the camera to the computer via usb then dragging the file to the camera card drive location under 'my computer'
unplug, then turn on camera in playback mode.. thats the way i've done both updates i've installed.. no problems with it here.
thank shanecgriffo,
but strangely I fail to copy the file to the SD card : it says that mycard is read only.
And indeed , I had already noticed that I failed to delete images from the card through USB using iPhoto. I had to delete the files using the LX3 itself. Any idea ?
no, sorry.. unless its write protected someway..
I see they have suspended the downloading of the update at panasonic, hopefully no problems!.. maybe wait to install when everything is ok.
After some search on the net : european LX3s do not allow PC/Macs to modify the SDHC memory through USB.. Strange limitation...
Well, I guess I'll have to buy an external SDHC reader/writer..
Thanks anyway !
Please can anyone post a copy of the firmware on rapidshare or whaterver you like ? Panasonic suspended the download, nobody know why...
I downloaded and installed the new firmware yesterday in my brand new LX3. No problems. I can also still see the download on the Panasonic site.
I think it's been mentioned before, but....wouldn't it be a great idea to have a firmware 'wishlist' somewhere?
To set things rolling, how about:
Display - it would be nice to be able to see the grid and exposure/setting information at the same time.
Self timer - it would be great to have a variable duration self timer option(like my Nikon F-801 - it's great if you need more than 10s to get yourself in-shot); and it would also be great to have self-timed multiple exposure (like my cheap & tiny Casio EX-Z75, which offers 2s, 10s and 10s with 3 shots then taken at 1s intervals - really useful).
Timelapse - this would also be great (my wife's IXUS 70 has timelapse, it's great fun, and it's clearly not rocket science!)
I hope I'm not going over old ground here - I'm new to this blog, and it might just be that I need to read the manual better.
Any more suggestions?
Don't all shout at once....I just found out how to get the display to show the grid and other info as well.
I'll take that off the wishlist then.
Jim
i have to assume that they pulled the download because there was a bug in it.. i wouldn't rush to find the bad version, i'm sure they'll repost it when they fix the problem (whatever the problem happens to be).
Great, thanks for the head's up!
is the new 2.2 version just a way of forcing us to pay £40+ for batteries? Anyone out there been seriously injured by a 3rd party battery? (except by tripping over it?)
Too bad, the "1:1" aspect ratio mode do not work correctly in C1/C2 mode.
I was eager to test the new firmware, but it is now suspended - here is what I found:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0910/09100102panalx3firmwareupdate.asp
Wo I guess we'll have to wait for the revised firmware to show up in 3 weeks time...
Richard: could you be more precise about the hyperfocal settings that you use ? any figures or tutorial would be of great help !
Thanks
Raphael
Maybe I can guess the "bug".
I updated and now Photoshop can't read my RAW files.
Anyone confirm?
How do I downgrade to previous version?
Thanks,
Curt
I've done the reset and I guess most everything is ok?
However RAW files shot with 1:1 aspect not readable by PS CS4 on Mac Intel 10.5.8!
Curt
Hello
I just noticed that there were other previous upgrades (1.1 1.2 1.3) can anyone tell me if you need to upgrade chronologically or does 2.0 cover them all and negate the need to go through all the other ones? Many thanks peopel.
Michael
Faulty release mirror: http://data.funix.sk/exe/LX3_V20.exe
better scan that for viruses and understand it has flaws.
m.dawson > 2.0 will cover all previous updates
I didn't update yet as they want a SD card for update, but I have only SDHC card (16GB) for the photos.
Should I get a SD card or is SDHC valid too? Thank you in advance for the answers!
And finally they expanded the auto-bracket function :)
zaliman > it works on sdhc as well
I'd wait for the final release though
many thanks Miroslav - will look out for the 2.0 upgrade.
I've been using version 2.0, haven't found any problems....yet.
3rd party batteries seem to work fine.
I'm not sure if this is a bug: if I enable intelligent ISO in P mode, I can't then activate the programme shift, only exposure compensation; but when iISO is off, I can activate programme shift. There's nothing in the manual to say this should happen. I suppose I could go back to v1.3 to see if it doesn't, but life's a bit too short for that.
The bigger range for auto-bracketing, is really really good.
The option to store the focal length is also great - it would be even better with a minor tweak so that a specific focal length could be set as a default (as it is, the camera now 'remembers' the focal length setting when it is switched off and reverts to that). I'd really like mine to boot up every time in mid-range (around 35mm) giving me the option to zoom in or out if I want to. An added benefit - the camera boots up just that little bit quicker if it doesn't have to crank the lens out all that way.
If anyone from Panasonic is reading, this would be a really neat feature to add to the new firmware while you're fixing the bugs.
No problems opening RAW or other files in any of my software (PC), but I'll let you know if anything crops up....
For your information, the new firmware 2.1 is now available. To download it, just follow the instructions given here: http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/download/LX3/index.html
I hope it will help.
Great, v. 2.1 is online ! Just downloaded it and checking the new features... does anyone know wher I can find a list of all changes brought by v. 2.1 ?
The list of improvements is on the same page as the download. http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/download/LX3/index.html
Are you sure those are buzzards?
I can confirm that the 1:1 RAW images do not open in Adobe Camera Raw 5.5 or Lightroom 2
All other aspect ratios open fine. Maybe they will update ACR for use with 1:1 in the future?
Zorza asked what hyperfocal distance was. This is basic photography, at least from the old film cameras. You set your lens at a certain distance, 10ft at f11 for example, and it wil give you specific distances in which you'll be in focus without having to refocus, this example would give you focus aproximately from 2' to maybe 30', that's why its good for photojournalistic photography. You aim and shoot and you'll be sharp.
There is more to it but this the basic principle.
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